[ COMPLETED ]
Eliana Oakley and Casen Walker couldn't be further on the other's spectrum.
Eliana is twenty-one years old and in her last year of college. An artist at heart, she uses that to her advantage to further her early fashion design career...
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"Don't tell me you snuck out to watch TikToks." I sigh as I close the sliding door behind me. Eliana is sat on the lounge chair, her phone in hand as she scrolls through her phone.
Everyone is in the cabin, drinking and dancing to the music blasting over the speakers.
The sun is sinking below the horizon, setting a beautiful orange haze on the land around us and especially on my girl. Her skin is glowing.
She leans forward, expecting me to slide in behind her, which I do. As she feels my warmth, she leans back into my hold and hums softly.
"I needed a minute." She whispers, transferring one of her AirPods to my ear. We spend some time watching videos together before she exhales shakily.
Her tears came right after we watched a video about a mother and a daughter joking around. I kiss her temple as she begins to cry, "I'm sorry. I don't know why I keep crying. I just..."
"It's okay, baby..." I whisper into her ear, tightening my arms around her both to keep her warm and provide her comfort. Despite her not really telling me anything about her past, I assume this must be a difficult time for her.
Or she's overwhelmed.
Whatever the case, I just want her to know that I'm here whenever she's ready to talk.
"I'm going to tell you something, Case." She cries, "And it shouldn't hurt this much but after meeting your mom and now being your girlfriend, I can't just keep it to myself anymore..."
"My dad left when I was eight." She starts off, running her nails over the back of my hand, "My mom said it was because of me, that I was too greedy for attention and that he just didn't want me anymore. Two years later, she marries his brother, my uncle."
She takes a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.
"The last time I really said any of this out loud was in therapy and I'd gotten to the final stage: acceptance." She releases a sob.
"He was nice at first..." She exhales shakily, "As they all are, y'know?" Her head is bowed as she says her next words, "And then one night, he..." She chokes up and I immediately take the chance to burrow her face into my shirt. "And I thought it was just a one time thing, but then it kept happening and I would tell my mother, and she did nothing."
"Ana..." I say softly, gently caressing her as she turns in my hold to rest her head on my chest. "You don't have to continue."
"No," She agrees, "But I want to. I trust you, Case." She sits up in the seat between my legs, one of hers hanging off the side. I lean up, straightening my back as I analyze her profile.
"She went to court with my grandmother," She continues, "Obviously she didn't win or I probably wouldn't even be here right now."
She sniffs and looks out to the lake in front of us, "I hadn't spoken to her for eleven years but I thought she left him. I mean, what kind of mother would..." She doesn't have to finish her sentence for me to understand.
"And then," She pulls her hair tie from her puff and begins to massage the back of her head with her eyes closed. Grabbing the bottle of water I brought out here, I open and hand it to her. I know her head must be hurting right now. "Thanksgiving."
I sigh as I realize exactly what she means. She said she was going to visit family for Thanksgiving, she came back and barely smiled until she saw me again, "He was there, wasn't he?" I take her hand into mine.
She nods and runs a hand down her face in frustration, "Yeah."
I don't know what to say, how to react, other than to kiss the palm of her hand and allow her to let it all out.
"She said he wanted to apologize." My brows shoot up. Is he stupid? Are they both that stupid? "I didn't even talk to him or even look at him that long, but shit, it just awoke something in me and then I was thinking about him then us and then you and how I want this to work out, I want us to work out, but something in me tells me I'm going to mess something up and I might get in my head about us and I know I'm rambling but I just need you to promise me that you won't hurt me. Not emotionally, not physically..."
"Hey," I rest a hand on her jaw, "Look at me, Eliana." She turns her gaze to me and I make sure she looks me in the eyes and sees how sincere I am when I say, "I will never hurt you, got me?"
She nods but I'm not convinced.
"Those assholes who hurt you, Eliana — and I don't just mean him, I mean her too — they don't deserve to know you as the amazing, beautiful, hilarious, bright soul you are today." I tell her from the bottom of my heart, "And I will never ever put my hands on you if you don't want me to and I will never try to hurt you emotionally. You deserve the world, alright? They were just too damn stupid to see that."
The tears fly down her face at a quick rate, making me pull her into my chest. She grabs onto my shirt, her tears soaking it, but I don't care.
I need her to know that I respect her with every inch of my body.
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like y'all ever just have to let it all out, yeah, baby eliana gotta let it out
it's okay to take some time to yourself and cry — it purges the system
